Pneumatic massage apparatus.



H. L. HOPKINS. PNEUMATIC MASSAGE APPARATUS.

APPucATloN mso sans. |903. RENEwED JULY s. 1'916.

1 ,217,886. Patented Feb. 27, 1917'.

TES

HARVEY L. HOPKINS, oEorIIcAeo, ILLINOIS, -ASsIGNoE, EY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To LoEAN A.,sTILLMAN, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 1

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb; A1917.

Application filed September 5, 1908,-Seria1 No. 451,816. Renewed July 5, 1916. Serial No. 107,694.y

To all whom z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, HARVEY LQHOPKINS, a citizen of the .United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county (if'COOlIand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Massage Apparatus, 0f which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

It is generally known and recognized by the medical profession that artificial hy.- peremia is a healing agent for many human affections, and the object of my invention is to provide an 'apparatus for producing artificial hyperemia in diseased parts of the human organism by suction andby a deep vacuum massage, the latter being caused by creating a vacuum and quickly releasing it over the affected part, which massages or churns the congested tissue cells, promoting an influx of fresh blood and producing transudation of leucocytes and liquor sanguinis to establish normal conditions.

In carrying out my invention, I preferably employ an apparatus as illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures, of which- Figure 1 is a side elevation 0f the complete apparatus; f

Fig. 2 is avertical section on line A-A of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line B-B of Fig.l 2; Fig. 4 is a section on line C-C of Fig. 2; andk Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views through different forms of the cups which I employ in connection with my apparatus.

The appartaus is preferably constructed with a cylinder 10 which is closed at the lower end bythe piece 11 permanently secured therein and at the top by the cap 12 which may be screwed'thereon, a milled portion 13 being preferably employed to facilitate the unscrewing of the cap when it is desired to get at the piston.' vThe piston 14:V Vmay be of any desired construction, provided `that it is air tight in the cylinder, and I have preferably shownpit as double to insure its more'nearly perfect action.' It is Secured on the end of the hollow piston rod 15, which'projects through a suitable aperture inthe cap 12 and has secured vthereon the T-shaped handle 16, by which the piston is drawn back and forth in the cylinder.

EEIc.

The cups which I employ areof different sizes, depending upon4 the area Vof the sur face to be treated, Fig. 6 Vshowing a cup of the minimum size, and the cup of theneXt size is preferably formed integral with the piece 1l by the flange 17 which has itsedges rounded, as shown, so as not to cut the flesh to which itis applied. Thev third size is illustrated in Fig. 7, the fourth size is shown in position'in Figs. 1 and 2,' and the largest size is 'shown in Fig. 5.* All of these de-y tachable cups consist of thebell-shaped cup portion properl8, and the neck or `securing portion 19, the exterior surface of which,l is groundV on a slight conical taper, substan tially one-eighth of an inch to the foot, and copera'tes with the correspondingly ground yinterior 20 on the end= piece 11, solthat the cups can be readily inserted and secured air tight inv the end. I have found by eX- periment that the taper mentioned is practically the only onethat is satisfactory, as if'the taper-is greater, it will not hold, and if itis less, it wedges so tightly that it is difficult to remove' the cups after they have Abeen used. In the larger sized lcups shown Y edgef22, so that when the high vacuum is f producedthe flesh can. be drawn into the cup only a certain distance, and in such shape thatthereis no danger of the flesh being bruised lor 'cut by its being drawn into the Stantaneous return of the flesh to itsnormal position when the vacuum released.

As it is an essential feature in the use of my apparatus that the vacuum can be released instantaneously so that a thorough massage Aofr the part being treated can be produced by rapidly repeating the formation of a vacuum and releasing it, I provide means for releasing the vacuum at any point in the stroke, and for this purpose I employ the valve 23 shown'in Fig. 3, which will be seen to be a conical' valvebody coperating with a correspondingly tapered valve l'seat crossingl'thetransverse aperture l24C in the handle, which laperture'is" a continuation of the handle in the piston rod 15. A valve stem 25 extends to the endV of the handle and is preferably provided with the button 26 by which it is manipulated, andon the other .90' cup. This shape also provides for the in- Vthe cylinder, and that the farther the piston is withdrawn, the greater will be the vacuum in the cupand the more the flesh beneath the cup will be pressed into it by the external pressure of the atmosphere. At the end of the stroke, or sooner, if desired, the button 26 is pressedinward, thereby opening the valve and causing an instant release of the vacuum. This instant release of the vacuum permits the flesh to fall instantly and the alternate rising and falling of the flesh as the vacuum is formed and broken produces what may be called an internal or deep massage of the fieshthat is very efficient in producing the artificial hyperemia desired.

It is desirable to regulate the extent of the vacuum, and this may be done by holding the valve open until the piston has been withdrawn a certain distance, then allowing the valve to close, and thenwithdrawing the piston as faras possible. Or the extent of the vacuum may be regulated in connection with the locking mechanism I have shown to hold the vacuum without the necessity of holding on to the handle, and for this purpose I. provide on the hollow piston rod 15 a rib 31, which is shown as interrupted at three points, 32, 83 and 34. The ends of these interrupted portions of the rib are preferably rounded 0E, as seen at 35, and they coperate with the inclinedsurfaces 36 on the collar 37 ofthe cap 12, so that when the handle is withdrawn until one of the interrupted portions is substantially vin register with the cap 12, by turning the handle, the rib 31 will have the rounded end portion 35 turned over the collar 37 so as to hold the piston in position.

As the apparatus will be held firmly against the part treated, it isdesirable to reduce any possible jar as much as possible, as inflammation often causes the parts treated tobe verytender, and accordingly `I preferably provide springs interposed between the piston and cylinder to cushion the stroke at either end. To cushion the outward stroke, I preferably employ the helically coiled expanding spring 38, surrounding the piston rod and interposed between the piston and the lowermost end ofthe rib 31. `To

cushion the downwardstroke, I preferably employ the helically coiled expanding spring 39, which Vsurroundsand is secured to the inwardly projecting portion 40 of the end piece 11, which portion constitutes an inward extension, as it were, of the flange 17.

The operation of the apparatus will be readily understood from the foregoing description, and I have found by actual test of the same that it is extremely eliicient in curing such disorders as are benefitted by artificial hyperemia.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied in the form which I at present consider best adapted to carry out the purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modifications, `and that I do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims except asmay be necessitated bythe state of theprior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a cylinder, of a suitable cup associated therewith, a piston in said cylinder .positively moved in both directions, a rod connected to the piston, a handle, and locking means between said piston rod and cylinder for -locking said cylinder and rod from relativelongitudinal movement, said means being operated by turning one relative to the other.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with an elongated cylinder having imperforate sides, of a suitable cup associated therewith, a piston in said cylinder, a rod connected to the piston longer than the cylinder, a handle connected to the piston rod, and a valve for the piston adapted to be operated fromthe handle at any desired relative position of the piston and` cylinder so that a high degree of vacuum due to a complete stroke ofthe piston, or a partial vacuum of any degree, may be obtained at will.

3. In a device of the classdescribed, the combination with anelongated cylinder having imperforate sides, of a suitable cup rigidly connected to one `end thereof, a piston adapted to be reciprocated in the cylinder, a hollow piston rod, a handle connected to the piston rod, and a valve in thehandle adapted to normally close the hollow through the rod.

4. Inl a ldevice, of the class described, the combination with anelongated cylinder having imperforate sides ,and `having a suitable cup associated therewitln of a piston adapted to be reciprocated in the cylinder, a hollow piston rod, a handle connected to the piston rod. a valve in the yhandle adapted to normally close the hollow through the rod, said valve consisting of the conical body portion co'perating with a similar seat in the handle, a stem for the valve extending to the exterior of the handle, and a spring cooperating with the valve to hold it close.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a cylinder having a suitable cup directly associated withone end,

-of a piston sliding in said cylinder positively moved in both directions, a piston rod movable freely through the other end and along the axis of the cylinder, and locking means between said piston rod and cylinder for locking the piston rod from longitudinal movement in the cylinder, said means being operated by turning the piston rod.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a cylinder, of a piston cooperating therewith, a piston rod, a cap on one end through which the piston rod is drawn freely and means for locking the piston rod in different positions in the cylinder, said means consisting of a rib on the piston rod interrupted at different points and adapted to coperate with the cap through which it is drawn and in which it may be turned at an interrupted point.

7. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a cylinder having the apertured end with the flange 40, a suitable cup fitted in said end, a pistony adapted to berreciprocated therein to produce a vacuum, and

a helically-coiled expanding lspring surrounding said flange and extending toward the' piston for the purpose described, and a piston rod extending from the other end of the cvlinder. n

8. In a device of the class described, the combina-tion of a cylinder having the aperturned end with the flange 40, a suitable cup fitted in said end, a piston adapted to be reciprocated therein to produce a vacuum, and a-helically-coiled expanding spring surrounding said Hange and extending toward the piston for the purpose described, a piston rod extending from the other end of the cylinder, and a helically-coiled expanding spring surrounding the piston rod between the piston and said other end.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination with a cylinder having imperforate sides, of a suitable cup directly secured to one end thereof, a piston adapted to reciprocate therein to produce a vacuum due to thev movement of the piston throughout the length of its entire stroke, a handle for reciprocating said piston and holding it in any position to which it may be moved, and means associated with the handle for instantly releasing the vacuum while the piston is retained in any desired position.

l0. In a device of the class described, the combination of a cylinder having the apertured end provided with a suitable cup, with a piston adapted to be reciprocated therein to produce a vacuum, a helically coiled expanding spring held in said end and exv tending toward the piston for the purpose described, a piston rod extending from the other end of the cylinder, and a handle attached to said piston rod.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this 2nd day of September A. D. 1908.

HARVEY L. HOPKINS. [11. s]

Witnesses:

JOHN HOWARD McELRoY, M. G. FrrzsrMMoNs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, 'by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, D. C. 

